Noble elected Prime Minister of Tonga

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Tonga’s fledgling democracy suffered its first blow today when the first
popularly elected parliament in the Pacific nation’s history elected a noble
as its prime minister designate.

After almost a month of horse-trading after the historic ballot on November
26, the tiny nation’s former Speaker, Lord Tu’ivakano, was named prime
minister, defeating Akilisi Pohiva, the popular pro-democracy activist .

Lord Tu’ivakano, 58, won support from 14 of the 26 politicians in the new
parliament, beating Mr Pohiva, his only rival, whose Friendly Islands
Democratic Party (FIDP) holds 12 seats.

Under Tonga’s new constitution voters directly elected 17 seats in parliament,
while